Open Letter by 47 Asian NGOs to Cambodian Prime Minister to stop violent crackdown of protests
Photo: LICADHO
On 7 January, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), together with its 47 member organizations from 16 countries across Asia, issued an open letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia to denounce the suppression of public assemblies, including the fatal shooting of at least four individuals in an incident on 3 January 2014, and ongoing judicial harassment against opposition leaders and human rights defenders. The letter also expressed concern regarding the continued detention of at least 23 individuals whose whereabouts remain unknown.
The letter condemns the excessive use of force against garment workers protesting to demand better wages, and calls on Cambodia to ensure that all law enforcement personnel act in accordance with international human rights norms and standards when regulating public assemblies. It expresses grave concern regarding the fate and whereabouts of the 23 individuals who were arrested on 2 and 3 January and are currently being held in an undisclosed location. Forum-ASIA further denounced the violent dispersal of another anti-government demonstration by approximately 1,000 people Phnom Penh on 4 January 2014, and the temporary arrest of five women human rights defenders from the Boeung Kak Lake community on 6 January 2014. Concern is also expressed regarding alleged judicial harassment against opposition leaders and human rights defenders in Cambodia. Finally, the letter urges the Cambodian government to revoke the blanket ban on all public assemblies in Phnom Penh and to respect the fundamental right to freedom of peaceful assembly, including the expression of peaceful dissent.
The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) also signed the petition.
See here the video of the violent incidents